To comment or not to comment?

As Intern 101 approaches its second birthday, I have to send out an early thank you to everyone who has visited this site, and I send out a double thanks to those how have emailed, commented, or both. I maintain the fact that this site works only if it's helping you in some way, and I cannot help interns if I don't know what's bothering you or what you need or want to know.

I find the comments interesting, partly because having someone comment on this site is pretty rare. I'm not sure why that is, but I want everyone to know that comments are welcome, whether you agree or disagree with something in the post. Likewise, if the post brought up more questions than it answered, then the comments are a good place to discuss that. I have a few ideas, I'd like to share with you regarding the commenting, inspired by this post over at Building Product Marketing.

First, please try to avoid commenting as "Anonymous". You don't have to use your real name--heck, you can call yourself Barney the Purple Horseman of the Apocalypse if you like, but Anonymous is problematic for two reasons: one, if more than one person comments as "Anonymous", it's a little tough for me to respond to the commenters ('well, First Anon,...good point, Second Anon....'); and two, I'd like to think that each and every one of you stands enough behind their convictions to attach some name to it, even if it's Barney. My blog name is a pseudonym, yes, but it's not Anonymous--it's Lulu. So if you're utterly pissed off at some nonsense I'm spouting on this blog, at least you have some name at which to hurl a rebuttal.

Second, I'm glad to approve comments that believe 180-degrees of what I believe, as long as those comments are stated clearly and with some degree of civility. I try hard to keep my commentary from getting personal--and hopefully I succeed at that, though I've probably slipped up somewhere--so I ask that you do the same. My goal is to keep the discussion about a topic or issue, not about a person or group of people.

Third, be sure to choose the right venue for your expressions. If it feels like your comment is dragging on a bit, it might be better to send it to me as an email. An email will allow you to work out your ideas a little more thoroughly, and I can even turn it into a post that gives everyone more food for thought.

At any rate, I appreciate all comments, emails, ideas, and input in general. If you ever have a question you'd like answered or a topic you'd like to see discussed here, you can let me know in the comments or via email (in the sidebar). And as always, thanks!